Burma/Myanmar

A friend of mine, Denes House, wrote yesterday:

There is no tragedy so horrible that governmental corruption can't make it worse. The tragedy of Myanmar is not that Western nations don't care about the poor or those devastated by natural disasters. We've given! We're ready to go! The tragedy of Myanmar is that the world's poorest nations are governed by the world's most dangerous thugs. And that's not a freakish coincidence. Pray for Myanmar. But pray that God would bring down the vicious dictators who would turn tragedy into holocaust through their inaction and paranoid grip on power.

Amid reports that more than 100,000 people may have lost their lives in last weekend's cyclone comes today's disheartening news that the first United Nations humanitarian aid flights have been turned away by the government of Myanmar. According to the U.N., they won't try again. The world is ready to respond, and respond generously. But you can't distribute food and medicine and safe drinking water if the government confiscates it on the runway. And that is what has happened.

So screw the government. Here is one way you can still help to keep people alive. Please read the post "Calling All Churches" at my friend John's site. I will certainly vouch for John's integrity, his heart for southeast Asia in general and the orphans of southeast Asia in particular, and for his ability to connect with the people who can actually do something and make a difference in this desperate situation. The contact information is included in John 's post. Please be generous. Thank you.